24 Jun 2014

Hirepool not going ahead with listing

1:14 pm on 24 June 2014

Hirepool Group will not go ahead with its proposed listing.

The owners of the equipment hire company, Next Capital and Macquarie, said they're comfortable retaining control of the business given the strength of the New Zealand economy and its operations.

However it appears institutional investors thought the proposed share price range of between $1.10 and $1.50 was too high.

Next Capital and Macquarie planned to raise up to $262 million dollars from the share float.

Fund managers have questioned Hirepool's projected profit margins of between 37 and 45 percent of sales in an industry that has struggled to realise margins of 30 percent .

They have also expressed a view that the current economic environment is as good as it gets for a hire business, while its capital intensive and operates in a highly fragmented market..

With a plethora of share market listings to choose from, fund managers argue the float should be priced under a dollar a share, which is below the bottom end of Hirepool's range of $1.10 each.

Next Capital and Macquarie are now not planning to list.